Sweeper for records of talking-machines.



A. HERRMAN.

SWEEPER FOR RECORDS OF TALKING MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV.12.1915.

13-1 9&1 Q7. Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

WITNESS m m'wefl A TTOR/VEVS wearer.

ARTHUR HERRMAN, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

SWEEPER FOR RECORDS OF TALKING-MACHINES.

Specificati of Leers Patent. Patented Sept. .112, 19116,,

Application filed November 12, 1915. Serial No. 61,154.

ments in Sweepers for Records of Talking.

Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof. It is well known that records for talking I machines and particularly disk records are liable to become very dusty by the deposit of dust and foreign particles in the grooves and that this deposit seriously affects the tone of the machine. This difliculty is usually met in some small degree by a preliminary wiping of the record before it is placed on the turn-table but this wiping probably aggravates the trouble rather than diminishing it, since the dust is thereby compressed in the grooves and the clogging accentuated. It has been proposed to remedy the trouble by employing a wiper of cloth which might be drawn over the grooves, but such a device is open to the same objection as that pointed out with respect to the usual hand dusting.

The present invention has for its object to provide a sweeper which shall be readily attachable to the sound box and arranged in such relation to the needle as to effectively dislodge and remove all dust and foreign particles from the groove just before the needle reaches the particular portion of the groove to be played. The sweeping thus accomplished is carried on, in accordance with the present invention,'by a brush which is composed of bristles which are caused to enter the grooves and rest on the very bottoms of the grooves so as to insure the removal of every particle of dust therefroiin' The inventionseeks further to provide an efficient self sweeper of the character indicated which may be readily attached to or detached fromsound boxes of any type on machines adapted for the playing of records having hill and dale grooves or laterally cutgrooves. v

The improved device has embodied there in a swiveled connection between the brush proper and its support, whereby the brush may be swung to an inactive position out of engagement with the record 'without necessitating the removal of the" entire brush and its support from the sound box.

Other features of constructionwill appear in greater detail hereinafter in connection with -the description of the accompanying drawings, in whichv Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a tone arm and sound box of one common type showing the improved sweeper attached to the sound box. Fig. 2 is a detail View in side elevation of the improved sweeper. Fig. 3 is a detail view in plan of the sweeper shown in Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a detail View of a sweeper of slightly modified construction which is especially adapted for use on sound boxes of talking machines in which the records have grooves of the hill and dale type. Fig. 5 is another View of the sweeper shown in Fig. 1.

The sound box (1, indicated in Fig. 1, is intended for use on records I) in which the grooves are formed with lateral recesses and the application of the improved sweeper to such a sound box will first be considered before reference is made to the form of sweeper shown in Figs. 4 and 5, which is ina suitable clamp f of such form as to embrace the rim of the sound box a. In the illustrated embodiment, 'the' clamp f is formed as a channeled member, the web of which may rest against the periphery of the sound box andthe sides of which may engage, respeetively, the front and rear faces ofthe sound box. In order to hold this clamp firmly in position there is provided a set'screw g which passes through one side of the channeled clamp f and engages releasably the face of the sound box. If desired, the opposite side of the channeled clamp f may be provided with a suitable pad h of soft material arranged to lie directly against the side of the soundbox and afford a more satisfactoryv engagement of the clamp with the sound box. In this connection, it is to be observed, that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details of construction described, inasmuch as the clamp might be formed as aspring member adapted to engage the sound box yieldingly and,'through its resiliency, maintain itself in position. A

' ited to the precisecharacter of the brush d either, except that this brush should be formed of stifl bristles fixed securely in a suitable holder d so as to facilitate the introduction of this holder into the retaining piece 0 of thesupport 0. When the bristles d become worn, the brush may be readily removed from the retaining member 0 and replaced by a fresh brush, at very slight expense.

In use, the improved sweeper is attached to therim of the sound box a by placing the clamp f in proper position thereon and setting up on the set screw 9, the brush d beingthereby placed in substantially the same plane 'with'the needle a, as-is desirable. The position of the clamp f on the sound box is such as to bring the bristles di'nto engagement with the. face of the record I) .at a point slightly in advance of the needle a; The bristles of the brush 01 being thus pressed into the grooves of the record enter into the very bottoms of the .grooves and effectively remove all dust and foreign particles therefrom just prior to the passage through v the successive portions of the groove of the needle a. In this way, it is insured that the groove shall be absolutely clean at each point when the needle reaches it and the resulting tone will be unimpaired in the manner now so common through the engagement of the needle with dust, etc., in the grooves. After a record has been played, it may be desirable to repeat and in such case where the sweeping has been effected, it is unnecessary to keep the brush in its sweeping position. In such case, it may readily be swung about the pivot e to one side of the sound box by a simple manipulation with the finger in a manner which will be evident. v When thus moved out of engagement with the record it may be permitted to remain there without objection, inasmuch as the entire structure is relatively small and does not affect the functioning of any of the other parts of the machine. 4

. The 'swee er shown in Figs. 4 and 5, as indicated beore, is especially designed for use on machines in which the needle vibrates vertically rather than laterally. In such machines, the sound box is usually disposed in a plane at right angles to the plane of plane at right angles to the plane of the web of the channeled clamp if, the construction .of which, in all other respects, remains as 3 described iln connection with the sweeper shown in Eigs. 2 and 3. The clamp f is secured to 1e rim of the sound box of the type now under discussion in the same way as was d scribed in connection with Fig. 1 and the grush d by reason of the twist in the supp t z: will rest on the record {just in advance of the needle in precisely the manner heretofore described.

It will be evident that changing conditions of use may require that the configuration of the constituent parts of the improved sweeper, namely, the clamp f, the support 0, the retaining member 0 and the holder 03 for the bristles, will not have to be changed,

but such changes may readily be made by one skilled in the art. Further, modifications involving only the exercise of mechanical skill in any one of the elements shown may suggest themselves, but all changes in configuration and form are to be deemedwithin the scope of this invention provided the designated objects are accomplished in substantially the manner pointed out in this specification and illustrated in the drawings.

. I claim as my invention:

1; In combination with a sound box for talking machines, a sweeper for the records, comprising a channeled clamp, a pad carried on one of the sides thereof to engage the face of the sound box when the clamp is positioned on its rim, a set screw to hold the clamp in position, a support pivotally connected to the clamp, a retaining socket on the support, a brush, and a holder for the brush disposed in said socket.

2. In combination with a sound box for talking machines, a sweeper for the records,

comprising a. channeled clamp, a pad carthe clamp in position, a support pivotally connected to the clamp, a spring retaining socket on the support, a brush, and a holder for the brush disposed in said socket.

This specification signed this 11th day of November, A. D. 1915.

ARTHUR HERRMAN. 

